Volunteering Made Easy 702 Primedia Broadcasting – 21 November 2016

“from 702 spoke to Roberta Donovan, Founder & CEO of BetterSA, making volunteering as easy & rewarding as possible through SA’s first hop on hop off volunteer.

The service is free of charge and each experience is fully facilitated, ensuring that volunteers make the biggest impact the time they have available. The only requirement from the volunteer is that they book a spot on one of our busses and then arrive and Hop on. Better SA does the rest.”

An Easy Way To Better SALead SA – Dianne Mc Alpine – 21 June 2016

“We have all been there; ready to get involved and help a community in need – but a busy schedule leaves us with no time to look for that perfect opportunity, and we end up putting it off over and over again.

Thanks to Better SA, volunteering has been made much easier – they make all the arrangements, all you need to do is show up, hop on a bus and do some good for SA!”

Enroute To Making A Better SA
North Eastern Tribune – Author Unknown – 6 March 2015

“Guests were driven to the Africa Children Feeding Scheme in Alexandra to experience all that the organisation stands for in true Better SA style.

Starting in October last year, founder and managing director of Better SA Roberta Donovan explained that the movement aims to make volunteering as easy and rewarding as possible for all people.

“I have volunteered for over 10 years and absolutely love it! The experience is truly transformational for all parties involved,” said Donovan.

Better SA currently works with seven different organisations and is rapidly growing.

“We work with community centres, old age homes and children homes. The number of organisations we work with is growing as we reach into communities,” said Donovan.

Donovan encouraged South Africans to become part of the solution, ” The best way to feel better about yourself and this country’s future is to be part of the solution,” said Donovan.

“An unexpected benefit of Better SA is that we get people from all works of life on our volunteer buses,” she explained.

“Better SA bridges the gap between the haves-and-have-nots. Instead of talking about poverty in leafy suburbs, you can come to Alex and see how 80 percent of other South Africans live,” said Donovan.

“Hop-on, hop-off busses are no longer just roofless bright red double deckers filled with sightseeing tourists. They are now also vehicles for transporting volunteers from privileged areas into poorer areas where they can use their spare time to make a difference……..

“Volunteers range from two to 72 years old, with a female bias of 76%, and 85% of volunteers are under the age of 40,” said Donovan, who left a corporate job last year to “do something impactful” with her life.

Most of the volunteers come from Johannesburg’s northern suburbs, and include engineers, attorneys, students and families.

They participate in educational or skills development activities such as teaching basic English and mathematics skills to school-going youths, typing up handwritten CVs for the unemployed and planting food gardens.

Director of African Children’s Feeding Scheme Phindile Hlalele, said the initiative had made a big difference to the more than 50 children at the organisation.

“We did a baseline test at first and there’s been a notable improvement in the children’s maths ability.”

“We’d like to see more demand than we can meet,” Donovan said.

There are three Better SA bus hubs for volunteers to use at Illovo, Broadacres and Roodepoort”

Your Time Is The Best Gift There IsSamantha Wright – 19 January 2015

“There is a certain selfish joy that comes with being hugged by a girl who has finally understood the zero times table, or rolling around on the floor building card ladders. You’ll think how lucky you are and the problems weighing you down will seem inconsequential.

You’re giving your time but you’re also giving a piece of you and you know what? It feels good.”

Getting On The Right Bus Can HelpFNB You Can Help – Stories Of Help – 16 January 2015

“For four years, Roberta worked on a concept. In March 2014, she walked away from her corporate career and founded Better SA a few months later. The concept is a simple one: provide an easy, convenient and time-friendly approach to volunteering.

“Better SA is a hop-on-hop-off volunteer service. It really simplifies the process; instead of having to find a charity yourself and make arrangements to help them, we take care of all the admin for the volunteer.”